Premier League: Why the promotion of Wolverhampton is a proud moment for every Indian?

Danny Batth becomes the first ever Indian origin Captain in the history of Premier League | Image: Twitter

XtraTime Website Desk: Wolverhampton’s promotion to the Premier League has been something which can give every Indian football fan some serious goosebumps. It might seem a bit weird, but the captain of the Wolves side – Daniel Tanveer Batth, is about to become the first ever Indian origin captain in the history of English Premier League.

Daniel Tanveer Batth was born to an Indian father, who had migrated to the U.K. from Punjab before he was born. Batth developed a liking to football early on and was enrolled into the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy. He signed a professional contract with the club during the 2008-09 season and has stayed with them ever since, captaining both the youth and the senior side.

He said: “It was an emotional moment. It’s crazy actually the way it finished and obviously now having everything confirmed.

“I know there’s been a few videos flying around of us jumping up and down cheering but it’s hard to sum up what it feels like to be part of a squad that’s achieved promotion out of this division.”

“So many players, so much hard work, staff making sacrifices every day…all the things that go into a successful team have this season come together.”

Such is Batth’s connection to India that in 2017 that he declared his desire to play for the country on an international level, after his visit to Mumbai in the same year. However, he was unable to do so because of passport regulations and residency restrictions.

Batth has set a milestone which might not seem all that important to the rest of the world but surely means a lot to Indian football fans. What remains to be seen is if he retains his captaincy for the next Premier League season and joins a select group of players of Indian origin to play in the league.